Spinach Artichoke Dip

March 22, 2012Katie

Spinach Artichoke Dip.

Even if they don’t like spinach all that much, most people truly love this concoction.

Mr. Wonderful and I have this favorite low-maintenance Friday night supper when we’re home alone. Friday nights seem to cause teenagers to disappear out of the house. We buy one of those roasted chickens, a frozen package of TGI Friday’s Spinach Artichoke Dip and some blue corn tortilla chips.

Here’s what you do – you scoop up some of the dip on a chip, then you place a good size bite of roasted chicken on top. It’s heaven I tell ya.

But here’s the thing. It’s like $3.00 or something for one little tiny package of the dip. I knew that I could make it myself and do a lot better than that! So here goes.

Take one package of frozen chopped spinach. Place it in a bowl and microwave it for about 2 minutes. Times will vary depending on your microwave.

Remove, squeeze and drain.

How, you ask? Either place it in a tea towel or other thin cloth, and draw up the towel around it and squeeze, or do it my way, if you don’t feel like washing a nasty spinach filled towel.

Toss it into your ricer, if you have one and press.

This works beautifully. And it gives you another use for that pesky ricer that takes up so much room in your pots and pans drawer.

Take one can of artichoke hearts and chop them up a bit. It’s really to your preference on the size.

Eat about 10 of these while you chop if no one’s looking.

Just kidding, but I truly love artichoke hearts.

Now, the rest is easy. Just measure and dump:

-the spinach
-the artichoke hearts
-one 8 oz. block of cream cheese
-one 8 oz. container of sour cream
-3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
-one cup of your cheese of choice – I wanted mozerella but only had monterey jack on hand.
-one melted stick of butter
-1 teaspoon salt
-1/2 teaspoon pepper
-And just for kicks, a sprinkle of cayenne pepper.

I highly recommend doing this in a mixing bowl that is not the one you’ll be serving it in. Learn from my experience please.

Mix everything up really good. I actually decided to use my hand mixer. The cream cheese was a little too hard.

Spread it in a 2 quart baking dish.

And just for fun, add a little more cheese on top.

Pop it into the oven and bake for about 30 minutes on 350º or until it begins to bubble around the edges and the cheese is melted on top. I took mine out and sprinkled it with some chopped tomatoes, just for some pretty color.

T.G.I. Fridays, watch out.